From the 1895 Souvenir Program of the Second Internation Conference of the Epworth League.
A number of 19th-century parents had the inclination to bestow vaguely Italianate-sounding names on their children, several of whom went on to public prominence. Among these men were famed American clergyman Orello Cone (1835-1905), and political figures Ronello DeWitt Burnham, Devillo Henry Curnalia, Coello Orland Boling, and Francello George Jillson, the latter two being featured here in years past. That list grows slightly larger with the inclusion of Ordello Luce Doty, a Cleveland manufacturer and Methodist church leader. A standout figure in the Cleveland area Epworth League, Doty was an active worker on behalf of the Prohibition party. A past candidate for mayor of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County treasurer, Doty was also an aspirant for the Ohio state senate and the house of representatives.
The son of the Rev. Thomas King (1833-1913) and Mary Asenath (Luce) Doty (1836-1921), Ordello Luce Doty was born in Potsdam, New York on April 23, 1856. Little is known of Doty's early life, excepting notice of his family's relocation to Cleveland in 1868. He married in Cleveland in September 1880 to Eliza Broder Timmins (1857-1948) and the couple's four-decade marriage produced two sons, Charles Edward (1881-1963) and Ordello Luce Jr. (1894-1983).
In 1885 Doty partnered with Christian J. Werwage to found the Manufacturers Oil and Grease Co, of Cleveland. Doty would serve as the company's president until his death in 1921. In addition to his business activities in that city, Doty gained further distinction with his affiliation with the Epworth League, which he helped to found in 1889. The league had its origins in Cleveland, where, in 1889, several Methodist young adult associations merged to form an organization dedicated to "encourage and cultivate Christ-centered character amongst young adults around the world." Prior to its formation Doty had served as secretary of the Ohio Oxford League, a precursor to the Epworth League.
Doty's long connection to the Epworth League saw him serve four years on its board of control; was first vice president of the Cleveland Union League; was president of the Cleveland district league, Northern Ohio Conference; was secretary of the league's Fifth General Conference district in 1890; and was president of the Fifth General Conference district, retiring in 1898.
From the Western Christian Advocate, 1898.
As a leading Methodist in Cleveland, Doty served over a decade as a Sunday school superintendent of the Jennings Avenue Methodist Episcopal church and was long active in the affairs of the Prohibition party. Prior to 1898, he had been put forward as that party's candidate for mayor of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County treasurer, and in 1897 gained the party's nomination for state senator from the 25th district. One of nine candidates that year, Doty polled seventh in the field, garnering just 684 votes. In 1908 he returned to politics with his unsuccessful run for state representative from Cuyahoga County. One of several prohibition candidates that year, he polled just 312 votes, and two years later was the Prohibition candidate for Cuyahoga County sheriff.
Information on Doty's life after 1910 remains scant. He died at his home in Cleveland on December 4, 1921, following a week's illness, and was survived by his wife and two sons. Following her death at age 90 in 1948, Eliza Doty was interred alongside her husband at the Lakewood Memorial Park in Rocky River, Ohio.
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